LABWEH, Lebanon — Militants from Syria who overran a Lebanese town mostly withdrew back across the hills separating the two countries as a cease-fire appeared to hold Thursday, allowing Lebanese troops to free seven fellow soldiers and ambulances to evacuate dozens of casualties.
The seizure of Arsal over the weekend marked the first time that Islamic extremists from Syria carried out a large-scale incursion into Lebanon and raised fears of a further spillover of the war across the porous border.
A senior Lebanese security official said the majority of the fighters had withdrawn by mid-Thursday.
As the militants pulled back, the extent of the fighting that began Saturday became clearer. Sunni clerics who negotiated the cease-fire uploaded videos of wounded, wailing children and photographs of dead children.
''We were weeping to see people in need. We had some bread, and people were fighting for the bread,'' said Sheik Hussam al-Ghali of the Association of Muslim Clerics, who oversaw the negotiations. ''I went to some of the [Syrian refugee] camps. The stench of death was very strong.''
Red Cross official Abdullah Zogheib said the group evacuated 42 wounded people Thursday.
The fighting in Arsal began Saturday when militants, including fighters from the Islamic State group, seized Lebanese army posts and demanded the release of a detained rebel commander.